


Baked in a Beautiful Pie

by milfasa



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Chowder is an awesome friend, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:39:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milfasa/pseuds/milfasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chowder slowly enters the kitchen a little more. “I was studying and I got hungry I didn’t mean… I mean I didn’t know…” He trails off lamely. All he wants to do is hug Bitty and tell him everything is going to be ok, but how can he do that when he has no idea what’s wrong, and what if the thing that’s making Bitty sad can’t be made “ok"?</p><p>	Luckily for Chowder, Bitty starts to speak again; his voice wobbling just a little bit more as tears start flowing again. “Chowder, can you just hold me right now?” </p><p>	Now that, Chowder can do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baked in a Beautiful Pie

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fan-fiction. I welcome constructive feedback, so please, lemme know what you think!
> 
> Title is from "She Used to Be Mine" from the Broadway musical 'Waitress'. The song is actually what inspired me to write this.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I truly appreciate it. :)

It is now 2 o'clock in the morning, and Chowder really doesn't know what to do.

It was the week before midterms, and he'd expected to stay up a little later tonight because his BIO205 class was thoroughly kicking his ass. Hopefully, if he got a jumpstart on studying, he just might pass this class. 

It was about one in the morning and Chowder had already been at this for 3 hours. He brushed his too-long hair out of his eyes, (mentally reminded himself to ask Holster to trim it this weekend), and went downstairs in search of a snack. To his confusion, he realized that the kitchen light was still on, and from the aroma emitting from that direction, Bitty was definitely baking a pie. 

He approached quietly, not wanting to scare Bitty, who probably thought he was alone at this point in the night. However, when Chowder stepped into the doorway, he became shocked at the sight in front of him, and stepped back behind the doorjamb.

To describe the state of the kitchen as the aftermath of a Mach 12 earthquake would be an understatement. There was a stack of dirty dishes a mile high in the sink, and many more scattered across the counters. Baking supplies were interspersed throughout the kitchen as well; Chowder spots a bag of flour on top of the cupboards, and its contents are dumped out onto the counter and floor beneath it. There is white powder on absolutely every visible surface in the kitchen. 

The kitchen may be in an absolutely unprecedented state of disarray, but that's nothing compared to the state of the "finished" pies that flood the expanse of both the dining table and island. Chowder’s nostrils are flooded with the scent of burnt maple-crusted apple pie. Chowder takes in the sight of very loosely constructed lattices and burnt crust and determines that something is VERY. WRONG. Bitty's in the epicenter of this disaster, his profile facing Chowder, and he's gripping the lip of the counter with both hands. His shoulders are tight and his head is hanging low, a sloppy-looking pie right in front of him. Chowder can see that some of the flour that fell from the top of the cupboard ended up in Bitty's hair and all over his Falconers pajama shirt. 

The whole sight is horrible to take in, but the worst part of it all for Chowder is how it sounds. The kitchen is all but silent aside from the ticking of the oven timer and Bitty's sobs. Yeah, Bitty is crying, alone, in a filthy kitchen at 1 AM.   
Chowder thought he could never feel as sad as he did that one time his twin sister spilled red paint all over his new Sharks jersey their dad got him for Christmas, but this is one thousand times worse. The sight of Bitty in this pathetic state has Chowder conflicted on whether to leave him alone and pretend he never saw him, or go give him a huge hug. 

Chowder stands there for a few seconds longer, debating his choices, when Bitty lets out a particularly heart-wrenching sob, and Chowder can’t handle watching any longer. He quietly steps out from behind the doorjamb and gives it a soft knock. Bitty’s head whips around to see the source of the sound, and Chowder is confronted with Bitty’s entire swollen face and red cheeks instead of just one side. His heart breaks a little more. Chowder suddenly realizes he has no idea what he was going to say to Bitty to comfort him, and also realizes he has no idea what he has to comfort him for. For the first time, Chowder has absolutely nothing to say. The two boys just stare at each other for a few moments, both unsure of what to say to the other.

Bitty finally breaks the silence with a loud sniffle. “Um... Chowder… What are you doing up this late? You should be asleep; you know you have class in the morning.” He puts his hands on his hips and looks at the ground, unable to make eye contact with his friend.

Chowder slowly enters the kitchen a little more. “I was studying and I got hungry I didn’t mean… I mean I didn’t know…” He trails off lamely. All he wants to do is hug Bitty and tell him everything is going to be ok, but how can he do that when he has no idea what’s wrong, and what if the thing that’s making Bitty sad can’t be made “ok’?

Luckily for Chowder, Bitty starts to speak again; his voice wobbling just a little bit more as tears start flowing again. “Chowder, can you just hold me right now?” 

Now that, Chowder can do.

He calmly but swiftly approaches Bitty, and wraps his arms tight around him. Bitty slowly puts his trembling hands on Chowder’s chest and twists his fingers into the fabric of his t-shirt. He presses his head against the Sharks logo splayed out across the front of Chowder’s shirt, and the tears come as soon as Chowder squeezes his arms tighter around Bitty. Chowder finds himself standing in this position for exactly four minutes; he just stares at the clock on the oven while Bitty’s cries slowly die out into dry sobs, and finally into silence. They stay like that for about a minute longer as Chowder lifts one of the hands that is holding Bitty’s waist and moves it into his hair, stroking softly. Bitty faces down, pressing his forehead into Chowder’s chest, and lets out a breath. Chowder can’t tell if it was a sob or a laugh. He guesses it’s a combination of both, given their situation. Bitty moves his head off Chowder’s chest and Chowder looks down to see Bitty’s eyes on him. They both don’t say anything, but Bitty gives Chowder a small, weak smile. 

“Thank you, Chowder. I really needed that.” Bitty pulls away from his body, wrapping his arms around himself, and making himself look smaller than he already is.

“Of course, Bitty! Anytime, really!” Chowder offers him a smile. They stand in silence for a beat until Chowder’s curiosity and concern get the best of him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Bitty takes a deep breath and considers it. He looks conflicted, and Chowder is about to tell him he doesn’t have to explain himself, when Bitty soft voice starts to speak. “Ok, so, I haven’t really told anyone this, but I’m… sort of seeing someone. We’ve only been dating a few months and most of our relationship has been long distance, and it’s just really taking a toll on both of us. We got in a pretty big fight today and said some things we both didn’t mean, and…” Bitty takes a breath he didn’t know he was holding and wipes away a tear he didn’t know he was shedding, “I hung up the phone before he said “I love you”. I hung up without saying “I love you”. I didn’t realize until after I had already done it and I couldn’t believe it happened. It was such a bad fight I didn’t know that if I called him back if he would pick up the phone or not. Now I can’t sleep because… it’s stupid but… what if something terrible happens to him? What if the last words I said to him were not “I love you”? You wanna know the last thing I said to him? “I can’t deal with this right now. I’ll talk to you in the morning”. How could I say that?” 

Bitty’s tears have started to flow once again. Chowder finds his eyes getting watery too. Bitty continues, “I just wish I could turn back time and just tell him I loved him. I know how hard he works and I know he tries his best and yet still I’m mad at him. I’m just so…” He trails off. He seems to be at a loss for words.

Chowder feels exactly the same way, but for a vastly different reason. See, most people see Chowder only by the surface. They see an overly excited boy who is led solely by emotion, until he becomes a goalie robot on the rink. However, most people don’t see Chowder as the perceptive genius he really is. See, Chowder put all the context clues together and figured out everything Bitty wasn’t telling him. The Falconers shirt? The maple-crusted apple pie? The long-distance boyfriend? Jack Zimmermann is Bitty’s secret boyfriend; it’s so obvious, but Chowder would never let Bitty know he knows. He figures he didn’t tell him for a reason, and he’d never want to out Jack or Bitty. So he decides to keep this bit of information to himself.

“Bitty,” At hearing his name, the blonde lifts his head from his hands, “I don’t know anything about this guy, but if you love him, that’s all the information I need to know he’s a great guy. Nothing bad is going to happen to him and you’ll call him in the morning and everything will be alright.” 

Bitty nods minutely and Chowder puts his hands on his friend’s shoulders. 

“Now, you’re going to walk upstairs and go to bed. Don’t even think about trying to clean this whole kitchen tonight. You need to rest. I won’t hear anything else.”

Bitty laughs. “I always thought I was the mom in this relationship.”

That makes Chowder smile. “It’s 2 AM. Things get kinda weird at 2 AM.”

Bitty looks at the clock. “Oh my gosh, is that really the time? I’ve been in here since 10.” He gives Chowder one last strong hug, squeezes his midsection and says a soft thanks. He then gives Chowder one last meaningful look before exiting the kitchen and climbing the stairs. A few moments pass until Chowder hears Bitty’s door close from the kitchen.

Judging by the clock on the oven, it is now 2 o’clock in the morning, and Chowder decides what to do. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It’s 8 in the morning when Bitty finally descends the stairs to make breakfast. His eyes are still a little puffy, despite his best efforts to follow Chowder’s direction to go to sleep. He may have finally come down stairs at 8, but he’s been up since 7, skyping with Jack and talking through their feelings and making up from their fight yesterday. Bitty had signed off with an “I love you” and remembered he had a filthy kitchen to clean.

As he makes his way down, however, he smells the familiar scent of blueberry pancakes; his favorite. He takes slightly bigger steps the rest of the way to the kitchen.

Chowder takes one look at Bitty’s face as he enters a spotless kitchen, aside from the mess Chowder made making pancakes, and determines that he decided to do the right thing.


End file.
